Stoogemania
|runtime = 83 min. |country = United States |language = English |music = Hummie Mann }} Stoogemania is a 1986 film about a fan of The Three Stooges, directed by Chuck Workman, and starring Josh Mostel. The film experienced a brief theatrical release and was poorly received by critics. It has been out of print since the 1980s, and while released to VHS and Beta in 1986, it has never been released on DVD. In the United Kingdom, the film was released under the title Party Stooge. A young Victoria Jackson played a nurse at the fictional Stooge Hills. Additionally, the local arcade owner is played by Paul "Mousie" Garner, who was one of Ted Healy's stooges and a member of the "New Three Stooges" in the 1970s. Plot The film centers on Howard F. Howard (Josh Mostel), a Three Stooges fan. He is engaged to the woman he loves (Melanie Chartoff), and life seems to be going well. More recently, he has been starting to see the Stooges wherever he goes. To save his life and his relationship, he seeks the help of a renowned Stooge psychologist (Sid Caesar). However, his illness is part of a very serious epidemic which has apparently swept the nation. The doctor gives him medicine, which is the wrong one and is a sleeping pill. To his dismay, Howard still sees the Stooges everywhere. He ends up going to "Stooge Row", a seedy part of Los Angeles located between the fictional "Shet Up St." and "Nyuk Nyuk Blvd." To combat this, a sanitarium known as Stooge Hills is created. While in an all-Stooge burlesque house, members of Stooge Hills (including James Avery) commit everyone in there to the sanitarium. Over a rigorous program, everyone is deemed cured. During the graduation ceremony, to prove that the Three Stooges are no longer funny, they play a few shorts. However, everyone comes to terms and realize "we love these guys". Howard marries his sweetheart, and the film ends on a happy note. Production Stoogemania was made in an attempt to cash in on The Three Stooges' resurgence in popularity during the 1980s, thanks to syndication and Jump N the Saddle Band's hit novelty song, "The Curly Shuffle". The film was not endorsed by Columbia Pictures or the Three Stooges trademark holders. Only four shorts are shown throughout the film, all of which are in the public domain: Sing a Song of Six Pants, Malice in the Palace, Brideless Groom, and Disorder in the Court. Further reading *Moe Howard and the Three Stooges; by Moe Howard https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806507233, (Citadel Press, 1977). *''The Complete Three Stooges: The Official Filmography and Three Stooges Companion''; by Jon Solomon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0971186804, (Comedy III Productions, Inc., 2002). *''The Three Stooges Scrapbook''; by Jeff Lenburg, Joan Howard Maurer, Greg Lenburg https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0806509465(Citadel Press, 1994). *''The Three Stooges: An Illustrated History, From Amalgamated Morons to American Icons''; by Michael Fleming https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0767905563(Broadway Publishing, 2002). *''One Fine Stooge: A Frizzy Life in Pictures''; by Steve Cox and Jim Terry https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1581823630, (Cumberland House Publishing, 2006). External links * * * *Stoogemania movie review on Yahoo! Movies * Category:The Three Stooges films Category:1986 films Category:Films directed by Chuck Workman Category:American films Category:Atlantic Entertainment Group films Category:English-language films Category:Cultural depictions of The Three Stooges